United States Mint at Philadelphia Named One of the Safest Places to Work

PHILADELPHIA – The United States Mint at Philadelphia today raised the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) Voluntary Protection Program’s (VPP) Star Worksite flag, designating the facility one of the safest worksites in the country. OSHA’s Star status is the highest safety recognition a worksite can achieve under the VPP safety program.

“I am proud of the United States Mint at Philadelphia for its continuing commitment to workplace safety, which has earned the facility recertification as one of the safest in the Nation.” said United States Mint Director Ed Moy. “It remains the only Department of the Treasury facility with STAR status.”

The flag-raising was part of a ceremony that included employees, managers and union representatives. OSHA Regional Administrator John Hermanson and American Federation of Government Employees, Mint Council C-157 and Local 1023 President Steven E. Farney joined Director Moy at the ceremony.

The 2009 VPP Star site designation is the second for the Nation’s oldest manufacturer of legal tender coinage. The United States Mint at Philadelphia was first awarded VPP Star status in 2005, after a two-year effort to dramatically improve the programs and processes that assure a healthy and safe working environment in the facility. Employees, managers and two unions worked together to raise standards and toughen procedures, and have further improved upon their achievements in health and safety over the past three years.

Created in 1982, OSHA’s VPP promotes excellence in occupational safety and health management. The VPP designation is given to Federal agencies or private sector companies that have exemplary safety and health management systems, and have achieved an injury/illness rate below national averages in their industries.

The United States Mint at Philadelphia employs approximately 500 employees. It is one of six facilities of the United States Mint. In Fiscal Year 2008, the Philadelphia facility produced 4.7 billion coins for commerce. The facility also makes official commemorative coins, uncirculated coin sets and Congressional Gold Medals.